General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - December 2018

Dec 2018

Jan 05, 2022

Jump in Deforestation of World's most Biodiverse Savanna

Deforestation last year rose to the highest level since 2015 in Brazil's Cerrado, prompting scientists to raise alarm over the state of the world's most species-rich savanna, a major carbon sink that helps to stave off climate change.
The Cerrado, which is spread across several states of Brazil and is one of the world's largest savannas, is often called an "upside-down forest" because of the deep roots its plants sink into the ground to survive seasonal droughts and fires. Destruction of these trees, grasses and other plants in the Cerrado is a major source of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, although it is far less densely forested than the more famous Amazon rainforest that it borders.

Dec 30, 2021

Doomsday Glacier" Threat

Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier, sometimes referred to as the Doomsday Glacier, is retreating rapidly as a warming ocean slowly erases its ice from below, leading to faster flow, more fracturing, and a threat of collapse, according to an international team of scientists. The glacier is the size of Florida or Britain and currently contributes four percent of annual global sea level rise. If it does collapse, global sea levels would rise by several feet—putting millions of people living in coastal cities in danger zones for extreme flooding.
Thwaites is the widest glacier in the world. It's doubled its outflow speed within the last 30 years, and the glacier in its entirety holds enough water to raise sea level by over two feet. And it could lead to even more sea-level rise, up to 10 feet, if it draws the surrounding glaciers with it.

Dec 24, 2021

Perfectly Preserved Dinosaur Embryo Found in China

Scientists in China have found a perfectly preserved fossilised dinosaur embryo that was preparing to hatch from an egg.
As per reports, the egg was found in Ganzhou in southern China's Jiangxi province. Researchers estimate that the fossil is at least 66 million years old.
The embryo is believed to be of a toothless theropod dinosaur, or oviraptorosaur, and was named Baby Yingliang.
The discovery has given researchers a greater understanding of the link between dinosaurs and modern birds.
This indicates that such behaviour in modern birds first evolved and originated among their dinosaur ancestors.

Dec 23, 2021

Arctic Temperatures Continue to Rise

According to a report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), temperatures in the Arctic last year were among the highest on record, and the region continues to see the dramatic shifts that put it at the cutting edge of climate change's effects.
The Arctic, which continues to warm at about twice the rate of the rest of the globe, saw its seventh-warmest polar year on record (from September 2020 through October) and the warmest autumn since 1900.

Dec 22, 2021

Himalayan Glaciers Melting at 'Exceptional Rate'

According to a study, glaciers in the Himalayas are melting at an "exceptional" rate because of global warming, threatening the water supply of millions of people in Asia.
The researchers found that the Himalayan glaciers have lost ice ten times more quickly over the last few decades than on average since the last major glacier expansion 400-700 years ago, a period known as the Little Ice Age.
The study also shows that Himalayan glaciers are shrinking far more rapidly than glaciers in other parts of the world.
The Himalayan mountain range is home to the world's third-largest amount of glacier ice, after Antarctica and the Arctic and is often referred to as 'the Third Pole'.

Scientists Find Fossil of Largest Arthropod to Ever Live

Researchers in the U.K. have found the fossilized exoskeleton of the largest arthropod to have ever lived. These giant millipede-like creatures were the length of a car and likely roamed Earth during the Carboniferous Period, between 359 million and 299 million years ago.
The monstrous millipede ancestors, known as Arthropleura, were already known to scientists, but the discovery of the new fossilized exoskeleton fragment confirms that these ancient invertebrates could grow to be much larger than previously expected.

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